20th to 22nd Philip island to Mornington Peninsula

I spend the morning surfing which is good fun. There's a kid's lesson going on and one of the instructors tells me they're "inner city" kids, some of who haven't seen the sea before - one comments on the saltiness! I get a few free pointers from the nice Ozzie surf instructor who clearly can't bear to watch me fall off anymore without intervening!
I walk around Cape Woolami in the afternoon- more beautiful coast-line and contrasting vegetation of ferns, succulents and bushland. In the evening I came back to see the sunset.

Next day I drive to the Mornington Peninsula via a small wildlife park- The Moonlit Sanctuary. I get the obligatory Koala picture, hear a talk about Dingos and feed Wallabies by hand (very cute!). I stopped at Mornington for lunch and drive along the coast past a string of beautiful sea-side small towns all with beautiful beaches. To Arthur's seat a viewing point inland named after Arthur's seat in Edinburgh. Then onto Sorrento towards the tip of the Pennisula and spent a nice evening back in the company of other people watching the antics of fox cubs and mice.

After a bad night sleep due to very wobbly bunks and thin mattresses I get up to watch the sunrise over the sea, beautiful! After breakfast I walk along Millionaire's walk; a short cliff-top walk which all but goes through some back gardens of the most desirable residences in Sorrento (and possibly all of Melbourne) the views are lovely, enhanced by the rich-people's yachts and private piers. I drove on to Point Nepean and from here took a transporter (actually a tractor with carriages!) along the point to walk back. Point Nepean was used as a quarantine station then a fort post WW1 then as an army training station and even to house Kosovan refugees in 1999. It's more beautiful coastline walking and I'm interested to see Cheviot beach, the site of the disappearance of Harold Holt, Australian Prime Minister in the 60s. Bill Bryson in "Down Under" is fascinated that Australia could lose a PM and the rest of the world not hear about it- he makes the point that for such a large country very little is heard about it in the rest of the world. I chat to an old couple who are walking and they tell me that basically it wasn't considered a particularly big deal athough there was a big search for him.
After a swim in the still waters of Portsea front beach (all the towns at the tip of the peninsula have a calm and still bay beach and a back surf, ocean beach- best of both worlds or what?!) and then head back to Melbourne.






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